Political debate in India is still divided along lines that can be traced to Nehru's ideas and the foundation of the Republic. This assessment of the exchanges and ideological battles betwee... read more
Who was John Lewis? His father died in a Somerset workhouse; he opened his first business in Oxford Street in 1864. Subsequent family feuds are detailed here, as well as the Partnership that... read more
Born Elizabeth Forbes in 1912, he lived as a boy/man and had the gender on his birth certificate altered in order to marry. When his older brother died in 1965, his cousin contested Ewan's i... read more
Wry and robust memoir from the Conservative MP of - amongst other things - 'Plebgate' notoriety. Praised by voices on both sides of the political divide.
In February 1938 Georg Klaar, a Jewish lad of seventeen, went to his first ball in Vienna, staying until the band's last waltz. A month later came the Anschluss. The ensuing years brought ch... read more
A rollicking account of the pursuit of love among the Good, the Bad and the Beautiful; abridged from 3 large volumes of memoirs that he left on his death in 2011.
A biography of the Swiss tennis divinity, champion of sweetie-coloured blazers, master of self-possession, likened by fellow tennis players to Michelangelo for his skill.
Translated from the Italian, this biography marks the 700th anniversary of Dante's death. It brings to life the context in which he wrote. (Barbero's book on Waterloo was excellent.)
The magnificent Eland publisher considers his ilk through the stories and gossip of 15 generations of farmers, colonels, brewers, naval commanders and horse-lovers, as told to him by a great... read more
Not Oscar (of the 'Ark' or 'List') but a Cafe in Innsbruck.... A vivid portrayal of a family's brushes with history, from the Jews of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the importance of cake.
The third son of a coal miner, Storey played Rugby and then went to the Slade School of Art. He taught in schools in the East End after the war, before becoming a highly successful writer - ... read more
Son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV: the man with the levers of power, to whom Shakespeare gave the speech about 'this sceptered isle'.
An understanding and enquiring look at the demon drink and what it enables certain writers to achieve, and at what cost: Patrick Hamilton, Jean Rhys, Charles Jackson, Malcolm Lowry, Dylan Th... read more
Executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union, a crime of which she was almost certainly innocent. This is a valuable book on 'The American Dreyfus Affair... read more
An exploration of the friendship and rivalry of these two poets, who met weekly at the Ritz (for a while) to discuss sex, suicide, mental health and other mutual preoccupations.